


Always At Your Side

by KaskardenFluvia



Category: Pacific Rim (Movies)
Genre: Friends to Lovers, M/M, Major Character Injury, Matter of Life and Death, Medical Inaccuracies, Not Canon Compliant, One Shot, POV Alternating, POV Third Person, Pre-Canon, the timeline is a bit off
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-25
Updated: 2018-12-25
Packaged: 2019-09-26 16:11:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,611
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17144927
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KaskardenFluvia/pseuds/KaskardenFluvia
Summary: "Newt started to relax a little, everything had been going fine and as far as he could tell the whole operation would be over in a matter of minutes. Maybe Pentecost had been right after all and he just worried way too much.Then a fireball errupted from the building."Set during the early years of Newt and Hermann working at the Hong Kong Shatterdome





	Always At Your Side

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first contribution to this fandom, I hope you'll enjoy it.
> 
> (The translations are in the end notes for the mobile users)

Marshal Pentecost had assured him that he would be perfectly safe. Several times, growing increasingly annoyed. In the end Newt had to accept his decision, because even though he still didn’t understand why Hermann had to be on the scene when they tried to salvage the remains of the Jaeger, there was little he could do about it, once the Marshal had made up his mind.

Why he was now forced to watch Hermann manoeuvre through the rubble while he had to stay behind in the _safe zone_ was also a mystery to him. He turned his head slightly to glance at Pentecost, who was standing a few feet to his left, arms crossed behind his back and with a grim look on his face.

Newt turned again, watching the soldiers hooking the Jaeger arm to the helicopters waiting to pull it out of the street canyon. He couldn’t help but smile when he saw Hermann shouting at one of them, throwing his arms around wildly. He started to relax a little, everything had been going fine and as far as he could tell the whole operation would be over in a matter of minutes. Maybe Pentecost had been right after all and he just worried way too much.

Then a fireball suddenly erupted from the building right next to the workers. Time seemed to slow down, Newt saw windows shattering, shards of glass flying through the air. He saw the front of the building crumple in on itself, sending huge chunks of debris hurling down into the street, which was quickly being ingulfed by a huge cloud of dust. A strangled cry echoed and by the time it was his own he was already running forwards. A guard stepped into his way to stop him, but he punched the man in the stomach on impulse, seeing him doubling over out of the corner of his eye as he jumped over the low fence separating the _safe zone_ from the street.

He coughed and pulled his shirt up over his mouth and nose, trying to find his way towards the site of the explosion, the fine dust filling the air making it hard to see anything.

“Hermann!” He screamed, voice already sounding hoarse. “Hermann!”

He ran further into the street, almost hitting the ground when he stumbled over a piece of rubble. The dust slowly started to settle, revealing the full extent of the destruction. The whole building had caved in on itself, burying the Jaeger arm underneath it.

“Hermann!” He shouted again, turning in a circle, searching for any hints of his friend. He had been standing right next to the building when it had collapsed.

Finally he spotted something that vaguely looked like an arm clad in a tweed jacket and he sprinted towards it, falling to his knees when he reached it.

“Hermann.” He choked out, his eyes filling with tears. The man was buried under a pile of rubble, only one arm and his head sticking out. Newt frantically started shovelling the debris away, quickly uncovering Hermann’s upper body. He grabbed him by the arms and tried to pull him out, but his legs were trapped beneath a steel beam, making it impossible to get him free, no matter how hard Newt tugged. He let out a frustrated grunt, wiping at his eyes, smearing dust all over his cheeks. His breathing was coming out in ragged burst, his heart beating so hard he could feel it in his throat. He let go off Hermann again, shuffling around until he was kneeling right next to him.

The small part of his brain that was still able to form a rational thought told him that he would rather rip apart every muscle in his arm than actually lift the steel beam, but the adrenaline drowned out the thought. Groaning with effort, he pushed against the beam as hard as he could, and then a bit more, fuelled by sheer panic. The beam suddenly moved, only a few millimetres, but it was enough to pull Hermann out from underneath it, the whole pile collapsing in on itself as soon as Newt let go of it.

Panting heavily he turned Hermann unto his back and started to feel for a pulse, tears starting to run down his cheeks when he couldn’t find one.

“Nein, nein.” He muttered, cradling Hermann’s face in his hand. He barely noticed that his brain had reverted back to his native language. “Hermann, _Liebling_ , nein.”[1]

He laid his hands on Hermann’s chest and started pressing down rhythmically, counting through clenched teeth. When he got to thirty, he quickly leaned down, pressing his mouth to Hermann’s, holding his nose closed with one hand. He breathed into him twice before moving back to pressing down on his chest.

“Du. Stirbst. Mir. Nicht. Weg.“ He muttered, pushing down with each word. “Nicht hier, nicht so.”[2]

He angrily wiped the tears clouding his vision away as he leaned down again, filling Hermann’s lungs with air once more.

Someone told him afterwards that he kept up the CPR for five minutes, but it had felt like five hours to him, every inch of his arms screaming in pain, but he pressed on. He knew that he would survive whatever damage he had done to his arms, but never the damage Hermann’s death would do to his mind.

When the medics finally arrived, they had to haul him off of him, Newt screaming hysterically, kicking and scratching until it finally got through to him that they were trying to help. They put Hermann on a stretcher, shouting frantic orders at each other, but Newt couldn’t understand what they were saying, the blood rushing in his ears overpowering every other sound. Someone came over to him and asked him something, tried to grab him by the shoulders. He started screaming again, lashing out at whoever it had been. The medics left him alone after that and he slumped down next to a pile of rubble, his whole body shaking, tears still running down his cheeks, slowly seeping into the collar of his shirt.

***

Marshal Pentecost stepped over the remains of a door frame, glass crunching under his shoes. He turned in a slow circle, trying to get an overview of the situation. Medics were rushing around, he saw them lifting people unto stretcher. Others were struggling to free the soldiers still trapped underneath what was left of the building.

So far they hadn’t been able to determine the cause of the explosion, their best guess so far was that there had been a gas leak in the building and that something had caused it to ignite. Under normal circumstances this shouldn’t have caused the building to collapse like it did, but the main frame had apparently been damaged in the attack.

As he turned he saw Dr Geiszler hunched over next to a pile of rubble, his face streaked with the tails of tears, his whole body covered in dust. He was shaking violently, hugging his knees to his chest and staring at the empty space before him without blinking. Pentecost had heard him scream Dr Gottlieb’s name when the fire had engulfed the building and had watched him run into the destruction, punching the poor guard who had tried to stop him.

“Why is no one treating Dr Geiszler?” He asked one of the medics coordinating the whole evacuation. The woman turned, quickly glancing over at the man.

“We tried, but he won’t let anyone near him, sir.” She turned towards Pentecost, her face filled with awe. “From what I’ve heard they found him giving CPR to Dr Gottlieb. He most likely saved his life.”

“You heard anything about Gottlieb?”

She shook her head.

“They most likely rushed him into surgery right away, but I can’t be for sure.” She turned away from him again, rushing over to another group of medics who were heaving a lifeless body onto a stretcher. Pentecost slowly walked over to Geiszler, stopping right in front of him. The man didn’t seem to nice him, his eyes unfocused.

“Dr Geiszler.” He said, but there was no reaction. “Newton. _Newt_.”

The doctor’s head suddenly snapped up, his eyes fixing onto the Marshal’s face. He suddenly jerked up, his mace turning into a mask of pure hatred and before Pentecost could react, he felt Newt’s fingers around his neck, choking him.

“This is all your fault!” The doctor screamed, his voice hysterical. Pentecost was too startled to shake him off, a strangled sound escaping his throat. “You said he’d be safe!”

By the time he had regained enough control over his body to fight back, a soldier had already come to his aid, yanking Dr Geiszler off of him, pushing him to the ground, arms wrenched behind his back. The doctor turned his head to the side, face scrunched into the dirt, his glasses cracked.

“If he dies you’re a dead man, Pentecost.” He growled and the soldier wrenched his arms further, eliciting a pained scream.

“Let him go!” Pentecost order and the soldier stared up at him, clearly confused.

“But sir-“

“I said, _let him go!_ ” He bellowed and the man let go of the doctor, who picked himself up, struggling to push himself into a sitting position, face contorted in pain.

“Get Dr Geiszler to the hospital immediately.” He shouted at a medic rushing by and the man nodded, pulling Geiszler, who seemed to have used all of his remaining strength in the attack, by the arm. He guided him towards one of the helicopters, dragging him inside.

“This incident will stay off the records.” He said and turned towards the soldier, who was still following Geiszler with watchful eyes. The man gave him a surprised.

“With all due respect sir, he tried to kill you.”

Pentecost shook his head and sighed heavily. He had recognised the look in Geiszler’s eyes when he had jumped at him.

“That wasn’t an attempted murder.” He told the soldier, watching the helicopter take off. “That was a wounded animal lashing out.”

***

Everything was hazy when Hermann woke up. He stared into a painfully bright light, an involuntary whimper escaping his throat. He faintly heard the sound of slippers sliding over the floor and then a face came into his field of vision.

“Hello Dr Gottlieb.” A soft voice said and he blinked frantically, but he couldn’t make out any features.

“What?” He mumbled, his tongue heavy in his mouth.

“You’re at the hospital. You came out of surgery only half an hour ago.”

“Happened?” It was hard to form a coherent thought, his eyelids growing heavy again.  

“There was an explosion. You were hit by some debris.” The voice explained calmly. He vaguely remembered flames bursting through window frames. “From what I’ve heard Dr Geiszler pulled you out from underneath.”

His mind perked up at this again, a jolt going through him.

“Newton? He alright?” He asked, forcing his eyes to stay open. The dark figure above him nodded.

“Yeah, he’s fine, don’t worry.”

He felt his thoughts slipping away from him again, eyes falling shut. The last thing he heard was the soft voice telling him that he should go back to sleep.

***

When he woke up again, the haziness had been replaced by a splitting headache. He blinked a few times, the low-hanging metal ceiling finally coming into focus, telling him that he was still in the Shatterdome. Judging by the sharp smell of disinfectant he was in the medical wing. Something in the room made a steady beeping sound and when he turned around he realised that the sound was his own heartbeat, coming form the EEG machine he was hooked up to.

There was another bed in the room and he raised his head slightly to get a better look at the patient sharing the room with him. Concern flowed through him when he recognised the man lying in the other bed, face slack.

“Newton.” He called out, voice raspy from not talking for hours. “Newton!”

The man stirred, his eyes opening slowly. He blinked a few times before suddenly jerking his head up.

“Hermann!” He exclaimed and scrambled to sit up, a feat made difficult by the fact that both of his arms were heavily bandaged. “Thank God, you’re alive!”

Hermann nodded weakly, watching Newton throw back his duvet before he swung his legs out of the bed, his feet touching down on the ground.

“I don’t think you should be getting out of bed.” He said meekly. The headache got worse with every second he held his eyes open.

“I don’t give a fuck.” Newton said and stood up, walking over to his bedside, carelessly knocking over the IV he was hooked up to. It prompted an alarm to go off and Hermann winced at the sharp noise. Newton didn’t seem to notice, he just pulled a chair over from the wall, sitting down next to Hermann, a soft smile on his face.

“How do you feel? He asked and gently laid a hand on his leg.

“Not good.” Hermann murmured, reaching for his hand on instinct and curling his hand around it, barely registering the surprised look on Newton’s face. “The headache is making it hard to stay awake.”

“Go back to sleep then.” Newton said softly, intertwining their fingers. “I’ll be here when you wake up.”

Herman was only able to nod before he sank back into unconsciousness.

***

Newt looked down at Hermann’s sleeping face and felt a wave of relief wash over him. When he had first woken up after his surgery he had been his only thought. He had started crying when the nurse had told him that he had made it, so overwhelmed by the exhilaration of knowing that Hermann was _alive_ , that Newt had actually managed to _save_ him. It didn’t matter that he had almost ripped the muscled off of the bones in his right arm, or that he had managed to break both ulna _and_ radius in his left. It didn’t matter that he had broken one of his own fingers while giving Hermann CPR. The feeling of Hermann’s hand in his, warm against his skin was worth every little bit of pain.

The door was pushed open and he heard someone stepped inside. He didn’t turn around, not even when the nurse addressed him directly.

“Dr Geiszler, please get back into bed.” The man said, walking over to him.

“I am not going to.” He said, eyes still fixed on Hermann.

“You need to lie down again.”

“No.” He said firmly. “I want to stay with him.”

“Dr Geiszler, please.” The man started tugging at his arm and Newt didn’t have the strength to fight back, Hermann’s fingers slipping out of his.

“Let me go!” He called when the man tried to pull him out of the chair. Hermann suddenly stirred again, a frown appearing on his face.

“Newton?” He murmured, blindly patting around with his hand. Newt managed to shake off the nurse and grabbed his hand again, gently stroking the back of his hand.

“Ich bin hier, ich bin hier.“ He whispred and turned towards the nurse again. “Please, let me stay with him.”[3]

The guy bit down on his lip, before letting out a heavy sigh.

“Fine. But at least let me hook you back up to the IV.”

Newt nodded, already turning his attention back to Hermann, who’s face had gone peaceful once again.

***

The sound of the door clicking shut woke Hermann up again. A quick glance showed him that Newton was still sitting at his side, but he had fallen asleep, his head resting on his shoulder.

“Dr Gottlieb, it’s good to see you awake.” The woman who had stepped inside said cheerfully. She walked over, stopping at the foot of his bed. “I’m Dr Liang, I was in charge of your surgery.”

He nodded and tried to prop himself up on his elbows without waking Netwon up, their fingers still intertwined.

“How do you feel?” Dr Liang asked, taking some kind of tablet out of the pocket of her coat.

“Like a building collapsed on top of me.” Hermann answered, his tone dry. The doctor laughed and nodded her head.

“No the most pleasant feeling, I imagine. Is there anything particularly painful?”

He shook his head and she smiled, before glancing down at her tablet, typing something with one hand.

“Well.” She sighed and looked up at him again. “I suppose you want to know the full extent of your injuries?”

“That’s right, doctor.”

“Let’s start with the positives, then. Nothing hit you directly in the head, so you only have mild concussion from the actual fall and you also suffered no brain damage by hypoxia or anything else. In general, your whole upper half suffered almost no serious damage. You do have some bruises, but your spine is still intact.” She hesitated for a moment before she continued speaking. “Your lower half was less fortunate. The right side of your pelvis took a direct hit and was essentially shattered. We had to replace most of it. We also had to replace your right hip joint with an artificial one.”

He listened to her explanation in silence, his grip on Newton’s hand tightening. He took a deep breath after she had finished, forcing his hand to relax again.

“Will there be any permanent damage?” He asked quietly, staring down at his legs covered by the thin duvet.

“Unfortunately, yes.” Dr Liang answered, shooting him a sympathetic smile.

“What kind?” He choked out, already dreading the answer. His fingers clenched around Newton’s again.

“First of all, I doubt that you’re going to need a wheelchair, if that’s what you’re afraid of.”

An audible sigh of relief let him and he clasped his free hand in front of his mouth, his cheeks starting to burn with embarrassment.

“That’s good to hear.” He said after clearing his throat.

“Well, you will have to use a cane, and it’s going to take a lot of physical therapy, determination and endurance to get there, but you will be able to walk.”

He nodded, a small mile appearing on his face.

“How long? How long till I can walk again?”

“A few weeks, at least. More likely a few months.” Dr Liang answered, and his smile disappeared again. “I’m sorry Dr Gottlieb. Medicine has advanced greatly in the last few years, but this is still going to take its time.”

“Yes, yes, I know.” He muttered, before pulling himself together and forcing himself to smile at her again. “After all, I don’t actually need to walk to continue my work.”

She frowned at him.

“You should still let yourself rest, doctor.”

“The Kaiju won’t stop their attacks just because I’m bed-ridden.” He objected and they stared at each other for a while, before Dr Liang finally glanced down at her tablet, audibly clearing her throat.

“Do you have any other questions?” She asked, changing the subject.

“Actually, yes. You said that my upper half didn’t take any serious damage when the building collapsed, but why is my chest bandaged then?” He lifted his shirt up the slightest bit, exposing the lower edge of the white elastic band.

“Dr Geiszler broke two of your ribs while giving you CPR.” She explained.

Hermann turned to look at Newotn, who had somehow managed to stay asleep during the whole conversation, only sinking further into the chair.

“He broke two of my ribs?” He turned towards the doctor again, raising an eyebrow in surprise.

“You would be dead if he hadn’t.” Dr Liang said, glancing at Newton. “You should be thankful.”

“Oh, I am.” He answered, his throat suddenly tight. He only now realised that Newton was most likely injured because of him. He had been staying behind when the explosion took place, he had been nowhere near the collapsing building. The only way he could have possibly been inured was if he had run in to _save_ him.

“I am.” He repeated quietly and squeezed Newton’s hand before turning back towards the doctor.

“Well, that should be it for now.” Dr Liang said, glancing at her watch. “You should try to get some more sleep, I’ll be back in the morning.” Hermann turned to look at the clock on the night stand. It was almost 11 pm.

“Goodnight, Dr Gottlieb.” She added.

“Goodnight, Dr Liang. Thank you.” He responded, and she gave him a small nod, before making her way over to the door. She pulled it open but turned around in the doorway.

“Maybe you should wake up Dr Geiszler. The chairs aren’t very comfy to sleep in.”

Hermann felt a blush creep onto his cheeks, silently waiting for her to leave and pull the door shut behind her. As soon as she was gone, he turned towards Newton.

“Newton.” He called, tugging at his hand gently. “Newton.”

The other man let out a groan before opening his eyes, blinking at Hermann a few times, a confused look on his face.

“Herm.” He muttered and he rolled his eyes at the nickname. It didn’t bother actually bother him, he was quite fond of it in reality, but he’d rather die than admit this to Newton.

The other yawned, blinking a few more times before finally snapping back to reality, his eyes suddenly widening in shock. He let go of Hermann’s hand, his cheeks turning red. Hermann’s hand twitched and he found himself missing the comfort of Newton’s fingers pressing against his.

“Hermann.” Newton said again, clearing his throat. “How are you feeling, man?”

“Better.” He answered and Newton grinned, his whole face lighting up. “I just talked to the doctor.”

There was a moment of silence.

“And?” Newton asked.

“She said you broke two of my ribs.” Hermann told him to avoid having to tell him about his hip. Newton blushed again, turning his face away.

“Dude, I- I just-“ He stuttered but Hermann cut him off.

“She also said you saved my life.”

Newton bit down on his lip and started picking at his nails, a nervous habit Hermann had noticed before.

“That’s what friends are for, dude.” He muttered, still avoiding his eyes. “No-No big deal.”

Hermann frowned, but stayed silent. It was obvious that Newton was uncomfortable and he didn’t want to make it any worse by asking if he had really run into the street to safe him, injuring himself in the process.

“Thank you.” He said instead, though those two words weren’t nearly enough to express how thankful he really was. He owed Newton his life, and nothing could ever describe how he felt.

The room fell silent around them again, Newton kept picking at his nails and Hermann had to fight the urge to reach for his hand again.

“Dr Liang also said that you should go lie down.” He finally said, when he couldn’t take the silence any longer. “The chairs apparently aren’t the best to sleep in.”

Newton nodded slowly, staring at his hands for a second before rising out of the chair. He stood there awkwardly, before abruptly turning around and walking over to his bed. This time he was more careful with the IV stand, untangling the plastic tube before getting back into his bed. Hermann waited until he had settled before he reached for the light switch above his night stand, turning off the light in the room. Now the only light was the screen of the EEG machine, casting a dim glow over the room.

He stared into the darkness, listening to the steady sounds of Newton’s breathing only a few feet away and his own heartbeat, but his thoughts kept racing in his head.

“Newton.” He finally whispered, turning his head in his direction. There was a rustle of fabric and he saw the silhouette in the other bed move.

“Yeah?” Newton responded, his tone worried.

“Good night.”

“Good night, Hermann.”

***

It was painful to watch Hermann struggle over the next two weeks. He outright refused to take more painkillers than absolutely necessary and only used the wheelchair provided to him after Dr Liang had forced him to. The first day after his surgery he had actually tried to walk with the crutches someone had left in the room, resulting in him falling without even making one step, almost making another surgery necessary. Dr Liang had been furious and berated him for almost an hour afterwards, and by the end of it Hermann had begrudgingly agreed to use the wheelchair to move around the room.

Which he actually had to do a lot, because despite everything Dr Liang, Newt and even Marshal Pentecost, who had apparently visited when Newt wasn’t there, told him, he had gone back to work immediately. He had somehow convinced one of his lab technicians to haul his console and documents into the room and used every minute of his free time to continue his work. Newt secretly envied him, he was bored out of his mind and would have loved to do some work, but he could barely hold a fork to eat, and typing made his arms hurt after 10 minutes. Most of the time he was either pretending to watch a movie while secretly watching Hermann or wandering the halls of the hospital.

Hermann’s stubbornness did him some good, it made him excel at physical therapy and exactly two weeks after his surgery his therapist agreed that he could finally have a go at using the crutches. Newt tried his best not to stare, pretending to read a report on his laptop, but he couldn’t help but glance over from time to time.

Crutches in hand, Hermann pushed himself out of his bed and Newt heard the hiss escaping his throat when he put his feet onto the ground. He swayed slightly but stayed upright. He took a wobbly step forward, hissing in pain once again.

“You can sit down again if you-“ His therapist started.

“No.” Hermann growled, cutting her off. The pitiful look on her face also earned her an angry glance from Hermann. If there was one thing he hated more than anything it was pity. Newt had made the mistake of feeling sorry for him once and Hermann had refused to even acknowledge his existence for the rest of the day.

“Let’s go.” Hermann added and took another step, leaning heavily onto the crutches. His therapist glanced at Newt, her face begging him to talk some sense into Hermann but he could only shrug in response. He knew that no amount of pain would keep Hermann from trying to do this. Once he had set his mind to something there was nothing that could stop him, a lesson Newt had learned in their first week of working in the Shatterdome together.

Hermann reached the door, but before he could even attempt to open it himself it was pushed open from the outside, Dr Liang standing in the doorway. She raised an eyebrow in surprise when she saw Hermann, but quickly turned her frown into a smile.

“Dr Gottlieb.” She greeted him, looking him up and down. “Good to see you on your feet.”

“Thank you.” Hermann pressed out through clenched teeth and she stepped aside to let him pass. She turned slightly, presumably to watch him limp down the hallway, before stepping inside and closing the door behind her. She was shaking her head.

“That’s gotta be a new record.” She said, walking over to Newt’s bed. “I’ve never seen someone with that kind of injury get back on their feet so quickly. I wonder if he’s just doing it to spite me.”

Newt snorted, Hermann had indeed told him that he’d get back on his feet as fast as he could just to prove Dr Liang wrong after she had reprimanded him for pushing himself too hard.

“I think he’s just stubborn.” He responded, barely containing his laughter. Dr Liang nodded.

“I think that’s the understatement of the century.” She murmured and grinned. “But I’m not here to talk about him. I’m here to talk to you Dr Geiszler. How are you feeling?”

He shrugged with his broken arm. The other still hurt too much when he tried to make quick movements.

“My right arm still hurts when I move too quickly or try to pick something up, but apart from that I’m fine.”

“That’s great.” She exclaimed and typed something into her tablet. “That means that I’ll be able to dismiss you today.”

Newt frowned, his heart sinking down into his stomach.

“That’s-“ He tried to swallow the lump in his throat. “That’s great.”

“You don’t seem to happy about it.”

He glanced at Hermann’s empty bed and then back at Dr Liang, who watched him with a frown on her face.

“How much longer will he have to stay?”

“I would like to keep him in for at least two more weeks.” She said with a sigh and he felt his heart sink even further. The prospect of Hermann having to spend two more weeks in the hospital alone made his stomach turn.

“But I don’t think that I’ll be able to do that.” The doctor added and his head perked up again. “To put it frankly, I don’t think that he’s going to let me. Now that he’s back on his feet it’s only going to be harder to keep him in here. But he will at least have to stay until the end of the week.”

Newt nodded and glanced down at his hands, picking at his nails.

“What exactly would I have to do to my arm so you’d keep me in until the end of the week?” He asked quietly, looking up at her. A look of utter confusion crossed her face, before she pulled herself together, her features hardening.

“Dr Geiszler you can’t pos-“

“I can’t leave him behind like this.” He interrupted her and stared at her, begging her with his eyes. She stared back, until she finally closed her eyes for a second, pinching the bridge of her nose with two fingers.

“Fine.” She snapped, shaking her head in frustration. “I’ll let you stay.”

“Thank you.”

“I’m only doing this because I know that you’re stubborn enough to carry out that threat.” She shook her head again. “Both you and Dr Gottlieb are insufferable to work with, you realise that?”

He tried to give her an apologetic smile.

“Judging by your reaction I’m _not_ the first to tell you.” She muttered.

It was true, Newt couldn’t even remember how many HR meeting he had had to attend because his co-workers complained about him. By this point HR didn’t even bother him anymore, they just re-assigned anyone who complained, essentially giving him his own lab. As far as he knew, the had handled the situation it pretty much the same way in Hermann’s case.

“Thank you.” He said again.

Dr Liang pressed her mouth into a tight line before turning on her heels and leaving the room without another word, pulling the door shut behind her.

***

She did keep her word however, dismissing both of them on Friday morning. She told them to stay out of work for the weekend and to take it easy upon their return.

Newt had actually tried to follow her instructions, but after he had spent two hours staring at the walls in his room, he had to admit to himself that he was way too bored to stay out of work any longer. He went down to the lab, figuring that he would find something to occupy his mind despite still not being able to do much with his arms.

He met Hermann in the elevator going down to the science wing and raised his eyebrows when he saw him.

“Didn’t Dr Liang tell you to stay out of work?” He asked and Hermann rolled his eyes.

“I believe she told you the same.”

Newt shot him a grin and shrugged.

“Fair point.”

The doors opened and they stepped outside.

“See you later.” Newt said and watched as Hermann limped down to his lab, the sound of his crutches hitting the metal floor echoing through the narrow hallway.

The next time he saw him was at lunch. Newt had went to the cafeteria in the hope of finding Tendo there, he hadn’t seen the man in weeks and was hoping that he could help him catch up with everything that had happened while he was out of the loop. He was not disappointed, Tendo calling him over to the table as soon as he had spotted Newt. Hermann was already sitting there, as well as Mako Mori, the quiet young woman that had worked on some parts of the Jaeger’s with Hermann.

“Newt, man, how are you doing?” Tendo asked when he sat down and Newt shrugged in response, his shoulder sending a wave of pain through his body in response.

“I’m alright.” He responded, fumbling with his fork. “It’s not _great_ , but I’ll get through it.”

“That’s good to hear.” Tendo smiled at him. “You know, you had me worried when you ran into that street all on your own.”

“Yeah, sorry ‘bout that.” He mumbled, looking down at his tray. “I just kind of…short-circuited, I guess.”

“Is it true that you saved Dr Gottlieb?” Mori suddenly asked and Newt quickly glanced at Hermann, who had raised his head at the mention of his name.

“Yeah man, we heard you lifted a building off of him.” Tendo added before Newt could reply. He felt heat rising in his cheeks, especially when he noticed Hermann staring at him.

“It was only one of the support beams, not the whole building.” He said, trying to hide his face behind his cup of coffee.

“But they were massive. I bet even the Marshal couldn’t lift one of those.” Tendo said and Newt shrugged again, wishing that they would just change the topic again.

“I believe that’s called _hysterical strength_.” Mori said and Newt turned to look at her. She was looking forth between him and Hermann.

“What?” Tendo asked.

“It’s a biological phenomenon.” Hermann explained without looking up from his own tray. “It usually occurs during high-stress situation. It basically means that the human body pushed itself to its absolute limit, to the point of ripping muscles apart from the bone. But it also enables it to display a kind of _superhuman_ strength.”

Tendo eyes widened while he listened to his explanation.

“Oh, you mean like mothers being able to lift vehicles off their children?” He asked and both Hermann and Newt nodded. “So your body is capable of just _ignoring_ pain if you try to save someone you love?”

Newt choked on his coffee at his last words and started coughing.

“I-I mean, I’m not-“ Tendo stammered, realising what he just said, his face turning red. “I’m not implying anything, it could just be someone you cared about, like I’m not saying that you two are in love or anything like that, I just meant that-“

Newt had wished for a Kaiju attack before, but this time was the first time he genuinely wished for one of them to directly attack the Shatterdome, crushing all of them under several feet of metal and debris.

“Tendo.” He interrupted the man, his hand clenching around his fork. “Just- Just _stop_ talking. Please.”

Tendo inhaled sharply, biting down on his lip to keep his mouth shut. His face was flushed red and it would have been funny, if Newt’s heart wasn’t hammering in his chest, his own face probably even a deeper shade of crimson. There was a moment of uncomfortable silence, all of them avoiding to look at each other before Hermann coughed, setting down his fork and standing up from the table without a word, making his way out of the cafeteria. Newt followed him out of the corner of his eyes until he disappeared through the doorway, before pushing his tray away, his head hitting the table only a split-second later.

“Fuck, Newt. I’m sorry.” Tendo muttered. Newt didn’t respond, he only stared at the table, wishing for the ground to open and swallow him whole.

***

Hermann was lying awake. He had been for a while now, staring at the dark ceiling of his room. It wasn’t the pain that kept him awake, instead it was and endless loop of Tendo’s words, repeating over and over again. It had just been a throwaway comment of course, but that didn’t make the loop playing in his head any better. In fact, it just made it more embarrassing.

Someone you love. Someone you _love. Someone_ you _love._

It wasn’t like he hadn’t entertained the idea before, back when Newton had just been the vague figure behind the weekly letters. He had quickly fallen in love with the man, his messy hand writing, the dumb doodles in the margins of the paper obviously ripped out of a notebook. It had been such a stark, endearing contrast to the clear intellect behind the words. Newton had felt like the first person to fully understand him, the first person who could actually keep up with him mentally. He had seemed like the perfect match.

Of course, he had pushed all of these feelings down after their first meeting had ended in a disaster, but he had kept all of the letters, a small part of him always itching to give him a second chance, but he had always been too proud to do so. When he had found out that both of them had been reassigned to Hong Kong he had promised himself to avoid the other man as much as possible.

By this point, it was safe to say that he had broken that promise and even though they spent most of their time screaming at each other a strange friendship had formed between them, to the point that Hermann would have risked his life to save Newton’s without hesitations, but also didn’t hesitate to call him out on all the idiotic and dangerous things he did on a day to day basis.

And now that Newton had _actually_ risked his life to save _him,_ he was forced to admit to himself that his feelings had resurfaced, or rather that they had never went away at all. Tendo’s words had strung a nerve, had brought something to the surface that Hermann hadn’t dared to touch.

He turned his head to look at the digital clock on the wall, the red letters glowing ominously. It was almost 2 am and he sighed heavily, when he heard a small knock on the door. At first he ignored it, blaming it on the non-stop activity in the Shatterdome, but it grew more insistent with every passing second. He sighed and pushed himself up, reaching for the crutches leaning against the wall before slowly getting out of bed. He limped over to the door, flicking on the light on his way there, the neon tubes flickering to life. He pulled open the door, ready to snap at whoever dared to disturb him this late at night.

Newton practically fell into the room as soon as Hermann managed to open the door, his eyes wide, skin pale. He almost knocked Hermann of his feet when he threw himself at him, pulling him into a crushing hug with a surprising amount of force, considering that both of his arms were still injured, one of them bandaged and the other still in the cast.

“I had to make sure you were alive.” Newton cried out, voice shaking. The door fell shut behind him.

He raised his head off of Hermann’s shoulder and before he knew what was happening Newton had crushed their lips together. The feeling overwhelmed Hermann, his whole body going rigid. He heard his crutches falling to the floor, but he didn’t pay much attention to it, blood rushing in his ears. Newton pulled back again, staring at him with a panicked look on his face.

“Fuck, I’m sorry.” He muttered, untangling his arms, letting go of Hermann. He grabbed Newton’s elbows before he could let his arms fall to his side, his hands lingering at Hermann’s waist.

“Don’t be.” He responded, leaning down to kiss him again, eyes falling shut. Newton slipped his hands around him again and Hermann allowed himself to melt into his touch, almost collapsing against his chest. Newton pulled him even closer and a sudden, sharp pain went through his ribcage.

“The ribs, Newton.” He hissed and Newton immediately dropped his arms.

“Oh god, I’m sorry.” He stammered, guilt written all over his face. Hermann smiled at him, his hands staying clasped behind Newton’s back.

“It’s alright.” He murmured. “What did you say when you fell through the door?”

Newt stared down at Hermann’s chest, his cheeks turning red.

“It’s dumb honestly.” He mumbled. “I had a nightmare and I just had to make sure you were still here.”

Hermann could see tears shimmering in his eyes and moved one of his hands, cupping Newton’s cheek.

“Don’t worry, Newton. You’re not getting rid of me this easily.”

Newton leaned into his hand for a second before looking up at him again, carefully resting his hands on his waist again.

“I guess I just got too used to hear your breathing at night.” He whispered. Hermann tilted his head to the side.

“Your snoring did make it easier to fall asleep.” He agreed and Newton rolled his eyes in fake annoyance, but he still smiled up at him.

Hermann would have liked to stay this close to him forever, but his hip was slowly getting too painful to ignore and he reluctantly let go of Newton.

“This goddamn hip is going to kill me.” He muttered to himself and Newton took a step back, bending down to pick up the crutches Hermann had dropped earlier. Hermann took them from him with a thankful smile before limping over to the bed, carefully sitting down again.

Newton stayed where he was, standing in the middle of the room, looking kind of lost. His eyes wandered around the room.

“Newton.” He called and his head whipped around. Hermann pointed at the bed, feeling a slight blush creep onto his cheeks. “Would you like to stay?”

A smile appeared on Newton’s face and he nodded, quickly walking over, waiting for him to lie down before climbing into the bed next to him. They stayed like this for a moment, an awkward silence filling the space between them until Hermann sighed, carefully shifting around so he could rest his head on Newton’s chest. His heart was hammering against his ear, but he shuffled around until he could put his arm around Hermann, burying a hand in his hair. Hermann closed his eyes, listening to Newt’s steadying heartbeat, the sound starting to lull him to sleep. He felt Newton pressing a kiss to the top of his head.

“I’m glad you’re still alive.” He murmured and Hermann smiled against his chest.

***

Their relationship didn’t seem to change much after this night. They still argued, they still spend most of their time working together shouting, their assistants kept filing countless HR complaints about their constant screaming.

But they spent every night tangled together in one bed, Newt listening to Hermann’s steady breaths until he fell asleep and when he woke up from a nightmare Hermann was always there at his side to reassure him, whispering into his ear until he fell asleep again. He did the same for him, gently stroking his back when Hermann woke up in a cold sweat. It seemed like neither of them wanted to sleep alone any more, and even though they had tried to break the habit a few times, they always ended up in one bed together. One time, Newt had gotten up in the middle of the night to walk over to Hermann’s room, only to find the other man standing in front of his door.  

Hermann casually started calling him _Liebling_ in private, making Newt almost choke to death when he first heard him say it, his face burning up when Hermann chuckled and kissed him.

They told no one, at first because they didn’t want to put a label on whatever relationship they shared and later, after the _I love you_ ’s had already been spoken, because the idea of people assuming that they hated each other when they were actually a couple amused both of them immensely.

When the married a year later they had to tell the Marshal, and it was the only time Newt had ever seen the man at a loss for words. By this point Newt had already more less moved into Hermann’s room, using his old one for storage. It honestly amazed him that no one had caught onto them, not even Tendo or Mako, both of whom spend a lot of time with them.

Mako was the first to find out, and she only did so because she heard Hermann calling Newton _Liebling_ over the phone. Newt drunkenly told Tendo about the incident a few weeks later, revealing the truth to him as well. Both of them promised not to tell anyone, the whole thing becoming a strange inside joke between the four of them. If anyone else suspected anything, they never dared to speak up.

It suited Newt just fine. All he needed was the knowledge that they had promised that they would always stay at each other’s side.

**Author's Note:**

> You know how you sometimes think to yourself "You know, I think I'll just write this quick one-shot" and then it turns into a 7500 word monstrosity? That is what happened to me while writing this one.  
> As you might have noticed, like Newt and Hermann my first language is German and not English, so if there are any errors, please tell me in the comments!  
> Anyway, I hope you enjoyed my first contribution to this fandom. Also,(shameless self-plug) because I know that there is some intersection: I also wrote some Good Omens fic, so if you want to give that a go I would greatly appreaciate it.  
> All that's left for me to say is thank you for reading and I hope you have a nice day!  
> ____  
> Translations:  
> 1)No, no. [...] Hermann, sweetheart, no.  
> 2)You. Won't. Die. On. Me. [...] Not here, not like this  
> 3)I'm here, I'm here


End file.
